Ha, it was a weird week. My mixtape was better than my box score. 1 eagle, 9 birdies, 6 doubles and a few bogeys in 36 holes. 9’s of 45-35-37-37
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When are mixtapes not better?!
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I am currently on the 4th month of Decade and have to say it has really started to change the way I have played. Here are my biggest takeaways so far.
Approach shots - I have found that I was playing approach shots from inside of 150 yards way to conservative. Not necessarily making more birdies but I am having way more easy par putts.
Tee Shots - Has changed the way I play 4 holes off the tee at my home course. Short Par’s hitting driver and one have been told by an assistant pro at the club that its a dumb decision. But sticking to it currently playing the hole in 4.1 strokes on the year I played I have played it at 4.7 strokes.
Also changed the way how I play the tightest hole at the course as sometimes you just have to play to a distance in the fariway and hit an approach shot into a green.
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How are you playing the tightest hole now?
Laying back?
I think the mentality of I just want to make an easy par is a winner for me…
I have a couple holes I want to look at my strategy on, though one depends on carrying a tree or hitting a draw… I’m not sure I can do either consistently!
@papageorgio I am laying back on the tightest hole now hitting 5 iron off the tee and than have roughly a 6 or 7 iron into the game.
The just wanting to make an easier par is such big winner. I hit a SW the other day which was a horrible shot but was still in the middle of the green by being able to play more aggressively. My aiming usually would have been in the middle of the green before.
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Tried to focus yesterday on hitting the middle of the greens… it’s definitely a winning strategy… Left one short and had a 6 footer for birdie… Had I aimed at the flag, I would have been chipping.
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It’s mind numbingly simple but the main benefit is that it will remove more missed greens and bogeys (or worse). Playing for birdie just doesn’t lower your scores over the long run.
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It was eye opening… it’s also funny how ingrained it is for me to aim at the pin… My personal theory is that we are wired in to want our best shots to be rewarded by the best results, and this approach goes against that… aka people like to chase birdies.
As I said in another thread, I closed my round with a dumb shot at a pin on the 9th that ended up on line but short and in a bunker… online and short SHOULD have been in the middle of the green, but my target was the pin and not the green and it cost me.
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I did a webinar with Scott in Jan, we talked about exactly this. IIRC Ok st, ran an experiment by removing all flags. Scores went down, go figure.
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I’ve read the blurb about OK State (I think it was them) removing the flags and people scoring better…
I think it’s an interesting dichotomy… You have to have enough confidence in your swing and target to make a good pass, while also understanding that a good pass has a fairly large miss radius… It’s definitely something I’m going to be working on mentally for a while…
I’ve moved to a GPS watch and will use that exclusively for distances moving forward.
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It is 100% mental, we discussed the mind taking over. For example pin on left side, aim is 5 yards right, but during swing most people tend to try and help the ball get closer to the hole. Basically not fully committed. It is a very simple thing that in practice is really difficult.
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Yeah… ironically, I was contemplating a series of threads on commitment (I have two up, I have ideas for 3-4 more)… but fully committing to the middle of the green has been one of the harder things I’ve done in golf… granted, I’m just at the beginning of the process and basically unlearning 25 years of pin seeking…
I’m thinking it through and have 2 distinct memories…
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Age 15, playing a high school round with my coach… 140ish into the pin, take dead aim… once bounce and into the cup… my only eagle on a par 4 ever*… It’s a shot I will always remember… I can’t remember exact details (club, yardage) but I remember the feeling… It’s happened once on the course. I hit the ball exactly where I was aimed.
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I was on the range a few years back, banging balls at the white flag… One hits the base perfectly. The assistant pro is on the range with me… I say “Finally, I hit one where I was aimed, a great shot” and he was somewhat baffled… He said something along the lines of “don’t you do that all the time?” and I still think back on it and NO… I don’t often hit the ball in 1 foot circle from 180 yards with a 6 iron… I KNOW that I need to aim for the middle of the green, but it’s not easy!
*As I typed out that story, I started to think about my eagles on par 5s, of which I have multiple… Nothing heroic, nothing special… Hit it on in 2 and made a putt. I was rarely close to the hole, but having the putt gave me the chance… If I missed the putt, I probably made birdie… Definitely a lesson there… Play every hole like it’s your second shot into a par 5!
Can I trademark that?
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This is so TRUE!! My par 5 scoring is right around 4.8, and bogeys are very rare if no penalties but my scoring has been creeping up and I am making more bogies, that doesn’t make sense. But it does! I have figured out that with the shorter clubs in I have subconsciously been more aggressive with my lines into the greens which is causing scoring issues.
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I need to do better at looking at my stats, honestly… I remember about 6 months ago, I went from a round of 3 under on par 5s to 6 over on them… I’d have to dig out the details, but I assume it was bad drives and I tried to force the hole…
I’m really hoping to bring a better strategy to the course in the spring (and a healed back, but that’s a different thread). My mental game has definitely always held me back.
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:: raises hand in agreement ::
Does anyone have a decade yardage book? I’m very curious about it… I just saw a tweet about it, but don’t really understand what was on the yardage book…
I have one Will. If you have a DECADE subscription then you get access to print yardage books. Scott and his team have created a really cool bit of coding that allows you to neatly print a book of your course from home. It prints in such a way you can cut and fold and it’s good to go, pages correctly collated. It prints your preferred distance rings and has the DECADE metrics etc. Would be really valuable if you regularly played tournaments at different courses.
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Yes, i got a DECADE book of my home course with my trial. It is cool and I could see huge value for highschool or college golfer who is regularly competing at different tracks.
I have still been making my own book though as I like to draw my target line and make specific notes on that line (carry, runout, hazards)
My book stays in my bag as I know the tee strategy for mens tees at this point. It is helpful if they are moving tees around for an mga event where you may take more aggressive lines or change strategy.
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I have been using these yardage books all last year. I find them really helpful. I print them out then sit on my computer with google maps satellite view and check targets and write them down. I also write down pin placements and make notes about approach targets etc.
The books also give helpful info about carry yardages and the like. It gives distance rings to the green too, together with averages to hole out from the fairway. You can pick what your baseline is too. PGA Tour, D1 college, college, I think LPGA etc. I use the D1 ones because they’re a bit more achievable.
At the end of the day they’re a handy app pace to write down notes etc. highly recommend.
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